Horticulture Hints Winter 2017
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Horticulture Hints Winter 2017 Landscape Gardening and Ornamentals _______________ Time to Plant Louisiana Super Plants The cool season, from November to February, is the ideal time to plant hardy trees and shrubs. Some of the most outstanding trees and shrubs to plant now are Louisiana Super Plants selections. The Louisiana Super Plants program is an educational and marketing campaign of the LSU AgCenter that highlights tough and beautiful plants that perform well in Louisiana landscapes. Louisiana Super Plants selections have a proven track record. These plants have gone through years of university evalu- ations and observations or have a long history of thriving in Louisiana landscapes. Louisiana Super Plants are “university tested, and industry approved.” Drift Roses Among the most outstanding of the roses released in the past few years, Drift roses (Rosa Drift series) are an excellent choice where smaller growing roses are desired. They grow only about 2-3 feet tall with a spread of about 3 feet or more. Plant Drift roses in well- prepared, sunny beds that have good drainage. Conversation Piece Azalea These summer flowering shrubs produce flushes of flowers from This azalea belongs to the Robin April to December and come in a Hill group and is known for its large variety of attractive colors. The low, flowers in various colors – white, spreading growth habit is suitable Penny Mac Hydrangea dark pink and variegated with for use as a ground cover and plant- Lots of hydrangea cultivars are both colors – on the same plant. ing in flowerbeds or containers. In Flowering occurs in mid-spring and available these days, but Penny flowerbeds, these tough, drought- Mac (Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Penny again in the fall. An evergreen shrub tolerant and disease-resistant that grows 3-5 feet tall and wide, Mac’) is one of the best. This flower- shrubs are a lower maintenance ing, deciduous shrub grows 4-6 feet Conversation Piece azaleas (Rho- alternative to bedding plants. dodendron ‘Conversation Piece’) tall and about 3-4 feet wide. Plant will thrive in well-prepared beds Belinda’s Dream is another hydrangeas in an eastern exposure that receive part shade. Use this outstanding landscape rose that is where they get morning sun and low-growing, mounding shrub to a Louisiana Super Plants selection. shade the rest of the day or in a provide color in beds and founda- It produces beautiful, double-pink location that receives lots of bright, tion plantings. flowers on a vigorous, disease- dappled light. resistant shrub. The main display of large, round flower heads show up in May and 1 Winter 2016-2017 LSU AgCenter Horticulture Hints are attractive into June – sporadic flowers appear in late summer. The flowers may be pink or light blue depending on the pH of the soil. Aphrodite Althea The Aphrodite althea (Hibiscus syriacus ‘Aphrodite’) is an excellent cultivar of the old-fashioned rose of Sharon or althea. Plants grow 8-10 feet tall and bloom from late spring through the summer. Aphrodite produces very large rosy-pink, single, ruffled flowers with magenta throats that are sterile and do not set seeds. Shishi Gashira Camellia Shishi Gashira camellias (Camellia hiemalis ‘Shishi Gashira’) are reliable evergreen shrubs that have a long, fall-blooming season. This compact shrub slowly grows 4-5 feet tall and wide and should be planted in locations that receive full sun to part shade. The double, dark pink flowers begin to appear in Octo- ber and continue until mid-January. The shrubs produce a large number of flowers and put on an excellent fall display. Shishi Gashira camellias may be used as specimen plants, massed in beds or planted in containers. Bees love the flow- ers. Shoal Creek Vitex Among the toughest small trees for our landscapes, vitex (Vitex agnus-castus) is easy to grow. Shoal Creek is an especially nice cultivar with large flower spikes that are deep, lavender blue produced in summer. But, all cultivars of vitex are worth planting in the landscape. Vitex trees flower best in full sun, but the trees will also More Louisiana Super Plants do well with some shade. At maturity they are about 10-15 feet tall and wide, and are grown as large shrubs or small This is also a great time to plant cool-season trees depending on how they are trained. Blooms occur bedding plants that will keep our flowerbeds and in May to June and again in August. These trees are very landscapes colorful from fall to spring. These plants drought-tolerant and attractive to bees, hummingbirds and love the chilly weather and easily tolerate the freezes butterflies. that occur over the winter. Look for Louisiana Super Plants cool-season bedding plants at your local nurs- Evergreen Sweetbay Magnolia eries. These bedding plants are selected by the LSU AgCenter for their outstanding performance around One of our most beautiful native trees, the evergreen the state. sweet bay magnolia (Magnolia virginiana var. australis) is a great choice for landscape planting. It grows well in full Excellent cool-season bedding plant selections sun, but will tolerate some light shade. Trees generally grow that can be planted in December, January and about 30 feet tall, but may grow taller. February include: Amazon dianthus (Neon Cherry, Neon Purple and Rose Magic); Amazon; Camelot The creamy white 2- to 4-inch flowers look like typi- foxgloves (lavender, cal magnolia flowers and are richly fragrant. They appear white, cream and in May and continue sporadically through the summer. rose); Sorbet violas in The backs of the leaves are silver and are beautiful when many colors; Red- breezes cause them to ripple silver and green. bor kale with frilly purple leaves; Swan Willow Oak columbines in many The native willow oak (Quercus phellos) is a great choice beautiful colors; the when a large shade tree is desired. Mature trees reach exquisitely blue- about 80 feet tall and 50 feet wide. The growth rate is flowered Diamonds moderate and the trees produce an upright, oval canopy Blue delphinium; that fits urban lots better than the spreading growth habit the long-blooming of live oaks. Willow oaks are deciduous, but the narrow Mesa gaillardia that leaves are not as messy as many shade trees. The small will bloom from early acorns these trees produce are good food for wildlife, such spring until late sum- as squirrels and birds. mer; and Homestead Purple verbena. 2 Winter 2016-2017 LSU AgCenter Horticulture Hints shredders are also available online from many companies that sell gardening Winter Work equipment. As you build up your compost pile, sprinkle some fertilizer that contains Winter is not necessarily a time nitrogen over each 1-foot layer of leaves to encourage decomposition. And of rest for Louisiana gardeners. don’t forget to keep the pile moist (but not wet). Pine straw does not com- While northern gardeners retreat post as quickly as other leaves and should be handled separately. (It’s best from an onslaught of snow, ice applied to beds as mulch.) Apply it now or stockpile it in plastic bags to use and frozen ground, we enjoy long later. stretches of mild weather punctu- ated occasionally by relatively short episodes of cold. This allows us to stay active in our gardens through Keep Up With Weeding the winter season. Weeds will continue to grow through the cool season. Do not let these unwanted bullies take over your flowerbeds. Your best defense is to keep Protect Tropicals the soil surface of beds covered with 2-3 inches of We know it will get cold enough mulch. again this winter at some point Oxalis, a clover look-alike, is one of the worst. protect our tropical landscape For physical control you must remove not just the plants. Decide which plants you will foliage, but also the carrot-like root or bulbs at- choose to protect and which plants tached to the leaves. Dig them out with a trowel. will be left to fend for themselves. An alternative is to use a systemic herbicide such Make sure you have enough materi- as glyphosate (Roundup and other named brands). als on hand to protect those plants Apply only the spray to the foliage of the oxalis, and do not allow it to get on that you will cover. the leaves of any desirable plants nearby. It will take several applications to be effective. Re-treat when it makes a comeback. It’s Ideal Planting Time Fennel Hardy trees, shrubs, ground covers and vines may be planted from De- cember to February – this is actually the ideal planting season. You also may plant cool-season bedding plants to provide color in the landscape through April or May. Don’t forget to keep your vegetable garden productive. Lots of hardy cool-season vegetables may be planted using transplants from your local nursery, or by direct seeding (root crops, such as carrots, radishes and Store Seeds turnips are always direct-seeded). If you harvested any seeds from your garden to plant next season, or have some packets of seeds left over, place them in a plastic or glass container with a tight-fitting lid, and store them in your refrigerator to keep them viable. Make sure you label the seeds with the kind they are and their date of harvest or purchase. Try to use seed within a year of harvesting or purchasing them. Recycle Leaves Don’t you dare bag up and throw away all of those valu- able leaves. Add them to your compost piles or use them to mulch shrub and flowerbeds. Shred the leaves by running over them with a mower (bag attached) and they will decompose faster.